Controversial UFC Champion Sean Strickland Rips Trump’s White House Fight

BreakingBusinessControversial UFC Champion Sean Strickland Rips Trump’s White House FightByConor Murray,Forbes Staff. Murray is a Forbes news reporter covering entertainment trends.Follow AuthorJun 04, 2026, 11:01am EDTToplineSean Strickland, the UFC’s reigning middleweight champion who may be just as well known for his history of offensive statements, claimed he is blacklisted from the UFC White House fight over his critical comments on Israel, suggesting he’d show up to the event anyway with a bullhorn to protest.Sean Strickland is the UFC middleweight champion. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)Getty ImagesKey FactsStrickland, an American UFC fighter who won the middleweight title last month, claimed in a video on X unnamed UFC higher-ups called him to say he cannot attend the upcoming White House fight, quipping the executives told him he is not “Israeli enough,” likely referring to Strickland’s history of anti-Israel comments.Strickland said his “allegiance was apparently in the wrong place,” noting he has been a critic of the war in Iran and both the United States and Israel’s involvement.In another video on his Instagram story, Strickland said, “I already bought my plane ticket, we’re f—ing going… I’m gonna get a big f—ing bullhorn, and we’re gonna go right up to the gates,” claiming it would be a “peaceful protest.” UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell backed Strickland at a press event late Wednesday and blasted the White House fight, saying the government is "desecrating its role in society by entertaining sports.”The government should “never” host sporting events because “there's more room for corruption and we already have a corrupted government,” Mitchell said, adding the role of the government is to “protect us, not entertain us.” Strickland has previously criticized the UFC’s White House fight, saying in December he would not want to go to “hang out with the f—ing Epstein list.” if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var ifram...